(Picture: Burundi National Students Union's mobilisation demanding Justice for Africa on 20th February 2023)
71 youth- and student-led organisations from over 30 countries have issued an urgent letter to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) ahead of the Bank-IMF Development Committee meeting taking place in Washington DC on 12th April 2023.
The Development Committee, made up of Ministers of Finance or Development from 25 countries, has a mandate to advise the IMF on development issues and young people around the world are calling for them to urgently address the shocking discrimination Africa faces within the fund and introduce policies that supports, not undermines, education financing on the continent.
Since 2015 international injustices have cost Africa $3.8 trillion dollars despite global wealth growing by over $11 trillion in the same time period. The IMF has played a large role in facilitating this staggering global inequality which has been catastrophic for the rights of the most marginalised children and young people. Over 10,000 African children have been forced into child labour every day since 2016, and the number of children out of school has increased by over 10 million in Africa.
Instead of promoting public spending on education, the IMF's continued imposition of extreme austerity measures in developing African countries, which their own research has repeatedly proved does not work, and unequal allocation of global financial resources at their disposal, has significantly undermined efforts to achieve education for all.
These discriminatory policies mandated by the IMF are unsurprising when their own power structures are unjust against Africa. Currently, the United States alone has three times more votes than all African countries, and the UK and Belgium have more IMF votes than all countries in sub-Saharan Africa put together. This unjust representation of Africa is replicated in many other global decision-making fora such as the G7, G20 and OECD and allows the richest countries to continue making the rules the poorest must live by.
Youth activists, student leaders and child labour survivor-advocates from across the world strongly believe that the IMF must take immediate action to address this devastating inequality and use their global power to support education financing in Africa.
Read their joint letter below and help amplify the demands of the following youth- and student-led organisations (in alphabetical order):
100 MILLION CAMPAIGN LIBERIA INC
100 Million Namibia
Action for Change
African Students and Alumni Forum (ASAF)
All-Africa Students Union
ANOSR - The National Alliance of Student Organizations in Romania
Association des Jeunes pour le Développement Communautaire,
Build A Youth Build-Africa
Burundi National Students' Union
Commonwealth Students' Association
CONFECH
Coordinadora de Representantes de Estudiantes de Universidades Públicas
Council of Students and Youth Movement of Mauritius
Danske Studerendes Fællesråd
Diretório Central dos Estudantes "Gonçalo de Freitas" da Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Minas Gerais
DO Grassroot Forum and Citizen Empowerment foundation
Elimination of Child Labour in Agriculture
Equal Rights Organization Tanzania
Ethiopian Higher Education Institution Students Union
European Students' Union (ESU)
Finlands Svenska Skolungdomsförbund
Future Resilience and Development Foundation
Future Team Rwanda Initiative
Gender Youth for Change and Peace Building Network
Global Student Forum
Guinean Students Empowerment Association
Ifix Iniative
Iniative for Domestic Workers Tanzania
Insaf Student Federation Pakistan
Institute for Development - Ghana
Jumuiya ya Maendeleo ya Elimu kwa Watoto Pemba
KADIPLEM ORG
Kenson Children Development Foundation
Kenya Universities Student's Organisation
Liberia National Students' Union
Mares FoundationNamibia
National Students Organization
National Association of Nigerian Students
National Union of Ghana Students
National Union of Ghana Students
New Hope New Winners Foundation
New Zealand Union of Students' Associations
Organising Bureau of European School Student Unions (OBESSU)
Organización Continental Latinoamericana y Caribeña de Estudiantes (OCLAE)
Pemba Child Rights Environmental and Malaria Control Organizatio (PECREMACO)
PEMBA PARALEGALS ORGANIZATION (JUMUIYA YA WASAIDIZI WA SHERIA PEMBA (JUWASPE)
Prime Goals Initiative
Princess Sylvia Foundation for the Less Privilege
Restore Lake Victoria Now
Right to Education Initiative
Rwanda National students Association -Intagamburuzwa
SAHRiNGON Tanzania Chapter
Sauti ya Mtoto Foundation
Southern African Students Union
Street Beats Foundation
Studomatrix
Survivors' Network (SN) Cameroon/ Africa
Tanzania Coalition Against Child labour
Tanzania Youth Biodiversity Network
TEAL Climate
The Indian Vidyarthi
The National Union of Students in Norway
The Women Wakeup Foundation
UDU - Unione degli Universitari
Union Nationale des Étudiants du Gabon (UNEG)
Union Scolaire et Estudiantine de Guinée USEG
United Lesotho Student Association
United Youth Initiative for Africa
UNIVERSITY STUDENTS ASSOCIATION OF GHANA
Verband der Schweizer Studierendenschaften VSS
Zimbabwe National Students Union
(Click and slide to expand the images to read the letter in full)
AMPLIFY THE DEMANDS OF OVER 70 YOUTH- AND STUDENT-LED ORGANISATIONS
Click the (green) image or here to share this message directly to Twitter:
"Ahead of @IMFNews & @WorldBank Spring Meetings 70+ youth & student-led organisations across the world demand action on delivering right to #education in #Africa. #JusticeForAfrica #ReshapingDevelopment"
Download the (red) image to share on Instagram or Facebook. Make sure to use the hashtag #JusticeForAfrica so we can amplify your posts and the hashtag #ReshapingDevelopment so your message is seen by those following the IMF-Bank Spring Meetings online.
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